Before hay or similar feed is distributed to livestock, it is preferable to moisten or treat the feed with water or a conditioning liquid. Commonly, the feed is unbaled before moistening. The primary reason for moistening hay prior to feeding is to reduce or eliminate the dust that is commonly found in hay. This dust can cause very serious respiratory problems in livestock, especially in horses. In addition, This moistening, treating, or conditioning may make the feed more appetizing to livestock.
A traditional means of moistening, treating, or conditioning hay has been to pour or spray a desired liquid onto the unbaled or baled hay before it is distributed to livestock feeding areas. However, the process used for spraying or pouring is imprecise, labour intensive, time consuming, and inconvenient. Often liquid is wasted or more than the required amount is added to compensate for the wasted amounts. If the hay remains baled during the process, labour intensity and inconvenience are substantial as the weight of a bale will greatly increase upon moistening. This is especially so if the moistening and handling of moistened bales are to be conducted indoors as well as outdoors. Therefore, a means is required for moistening, treating, or conditioning baled feed which reduces waste and can be carried out at a convenient place and time, such as during bale handling prior to distribution to livestock located indoors or outdoors.
Devices for moistening, treating, or conditioning bales are known. For example, liquids may be injected into bales. An injection probe is employed for this purpose in Canadian Patent. No. 1,234,313, issued Mar. 22, 1988, to Akins. Injecting spikes are used for the same purpose in U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,172, issued Aug. 19, 1986, to Miller and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,072, issued Aug. 4, 1998, to Ulrich. Similarly, devices for spray injecting liquids into bales are also known. For example, jet-forming nozzles are employed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,338, issued Dec. 9, 1986, to Sprott and Rotz and in Canadian Patent Application No. 2,082,504, filed May 6, 1991, by Carlson and Stockel. Moreover, devices for sprinkling baled material from above and for pouring liquids into bales are also known. For example, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,780, issued Jan. 8, 1980, to Lagerstrom and Nilsson and to German Patent No. 3,907,008A1, published Sep. 6, 1990, by Dues.
Furthermore, devices for submerging baled material in a liquid are also known. For example, reference may be made to Canadian Patent Application No. 2,132,322, filed on Mar. 18, 1993, by Stockel and Carlson and to Canadian Patent Application No. 2,166,476, filed on Jul. 19, 1994, by Stockel and Carlson. The bale moistening device disclosed in these patents, while intended to be deployed outdoors, are not easily deployed indoors. None of these patents provide a simple and convenient method of conserving moistening, conditioning, or treating liquid.
In addition, devices for bale handling are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,346, issued Mar. 10, 1998, to Davina and to U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,583, issued Dec. 14, 1982, to Bontrager. The bale handing devices disclosed in these patents is employed To load a bale carrying truck or similar bale mover. These devices are not specifically designed for moistening bales or for the simple and convenient handling of moistened bales both indoors and outdoors.
Although the patents referred to above relate to either bale moistening or bale handling, none of these patents disclose a simple and convenient apparatus for performing the combined function of moistening and handling bales.
A need therefore exists for a simple and convenient bale moistening and handling apparatus which overcomes the problems inherent in the use of existing devices and methods. Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a bale moistening and handling apparatus.